A Black Dagger Zombie missile target, designed to fly a ballistic flight path and demonstrate defensive protection, launches from Fort Wingate, N.M., Nov. 2, 2024. The Army is launching a new space operations specialty for enlisted troops, the service announced May 2, 2025. (Defense Department)

A new space operations specialty for enlisted soldiers will support ground forces through the use of electronic warfare, Army officials announced recently.

The new career field, known as 40D space operations specialist, is expected to be in place by October 2026, Army Space and Missile Defense Command boss Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey said Friday.

“These soldiers will become the experts we turn to during the next conflict,” Gainey said during a Pentagon briefing.

The space specialists will disrupt adversaries and ensure that Army forces can “fight from positions of relative advantage in all domains,” he said.

That will mean using an electronic warfare arsenal so soldiers can maneuver and communicate without being detected, Gainey said.

The new specialty also is expected to boost soldier retention. It will offer more professional stability for troops who now operate outside their assigned jobs in the air defense, signal and intelligence fields to assist in space operations, Gainey said.

Since U.S. Space Command was reestablished by President Donald Trump in 2019, the military services have been building up their respective space capabilities. That same year, Trump also established the Space Force as a separate military branch.

The 40D soldiers will attend the Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. That will take place after initial entry training is completed, the Army said. 

“I want to encourage everybody (who’s) interested … to compete for it,” Gainey said. “But it’s going to be very competitive.”